The Fine Art of Communicating

We are delving into our communication inquiry, and comic fever has caught on! Although I hadn't planned to examine comic strips as a way of communicating, that's exactly what we are doing. This is the beauty of inquiry based teaching and learning. Honoring student interests and harnessing the opportunity to take advantage of the "teachable moment" validates the boys' desire to want to know more about something that has caught their attention. We've spent time comparing comic books with picture books and thinking about how to tell a story with a logical beginning, middle and end through pictures, speech and thought bubbles, and exclamations. We even talked about "onomatopeoia"! The boys are very proud of their work and are learning important lessons about communicating clearly for an audience. On top of all this writing, we are also exploring communication devices, and learning about Helen Keller. Over the next two weeks we will explore braille, sign language, non-verbal communication, and world alphabets.
Thank you for coming to your son's learning conference. I was so proud of how well the boys shared their work with you. They were confident communicators who expressed their learning clearly. Student learning conferences are very important in helping the boys develop confidence and pride as they reflect on their learning and productivity. We will be looking at your "stars and wishes" and will work hard to make your "wish" come true before our next learning conferences in February.